Transformers (2004/Armada)

How can I describe this game without talking for hours? Let someone else try. This guy does a decent job of it.


So, this is one of my favorite games. The mini-cons allow for so much fun and variety, almost builds to a degree. I used to spend hours testing what each could do and what kind of reaction they got from each enemy type. Once I get my capture equipment I plan to go back to this game and generate some ridiculously in-depth content.

On to stuff not mentioned in that video. You can equip up to 4 mini-cons, each having a power level, and each Autobot having a power limit, meaning you can't just equip 4 of the most powerful ones because their cost would be too high. Prime has the highest power limit so he can equip more high power mini-cons, but still not in all 4 slots.

Mini-cons have a meter that decreases with use, but refills automatically when not in use. The synergy he mentioned affects things like this such as refill speed, and how long to can remain in Powerlink, which is essentially a 'DT' of sorts. Your mini-con companion will connect and you'll become way more powerful and everything slows down, but your life will drain rapidly. Not very useful at all in my experience, even with a full team of the same colors.

Some mini-cons are just more powerful versions of others, but the majority are totally different and offer tons of variety. You have blasters, lasers, shields, explosives, rockets, homing missiles, and support stuff like high jump, glider, stealth, range extend, and thermal vision.

Each stage is pretty big, with Mini-Cons and Data-Cons (unlockables) scattered about, some inaccessible until you return with the glider or high jump.

There is a cover system and first person aiming. It's kind of weird and hard to describe. Once you go into first person view, you can't move. But if you move the right stick, you can sort of 'sway' in that direction. So if you were behind something you could pop out like this.

There is melee, and Mini-Cons that boost its power, but it's super limited. You hit three times but stronger enemies can beat you down. One in particular just grabs and throws you if up close. I need to go back and look into it more. There are some enemies where melee completely shuts them down.

I could talk for HOURS on the application of just a few Mini-Cons but I'll leave that for when I get my guide (which will never happen) started.

I'll tell you one story though. I got this friend who is awful at EVERY game and he used to come over and play this. He freakin' loves it and actually called me two days ago asking to borrow it. Anyway, years ago, he was fighting Megatron and getting totally destroyed, then he equips the grenade launcher telling me it's good because it allows multiple shots before totally draining, and refills fast. I countered that this is only because it's so weak. He starts shooting at Megatron who usually tanks most things and I noticed that while the grenades do next to no damage, they were causing a very small hit-stun, and even cancelled his powerful moves completely! This lead to all kinds of cool stuff once I started testing it later. I initially disregarded it, but it sends flying some of the most annoying enemies in the game, like shield users and those grabbing ones, allowing you to freely blast them with something else.

I better shut up. That above example leads into endless other stuff. Anyway, play this now. This isn't a choice.

Edit: Crap, forgot to add, this game has button input cheats. The game doesn't tell you them as far as I know, but you can find them online. There are some really interesting ones like disable overload, which is that Mini-Con equip limit I mentioned before. So you can equip unrealistic combinations and mess around.

There's also an infinite dash cheat which is used with the dash Mini-Con. Technically, isn't infinite, it just refills so fast there's no downtime between use. This one is awesome, because you can play the game almost like an action game, zipping all over the place. It also allowed me to go out of bounds using the glider, but that's a (long) story for another day.

Then there's other useful stuff like level select, infinite health and all Mini-Cons from the start. This allows me to test anything I want. There are some others but I've forgotten what they are.

All difficulties are available from the start too which is nice.

I remember this game coming out and being a really big deal, I really wanted to play it but had no PS2 and even got a discount card for the game in my monthly gaming magazine Game Quest (damn that brings back nostalgia).

It sounded so amazing, especially when I watched the video review on tv show Gammo (dear god the nostalgia). I really really wanted the game, but never ended up playing it. Really good that you mention it, going to try and hunt this one down.

I have a few hours to spare before going back to work so I'm going to try a blaster only run on Commander mode. So that means the default blaster and no Mini-Cons whatsoever. I don't see this turning out well.

I'm going to give myself one advantage, and that's by doing this run with Prime. He has the highest attack power and in vehicle mode, can ram enemies that the other two can't.

I was going to use Hotshot because he's the weakest, but I can think of some encounters that may not work with him.

Edit: Just did the first two levels, Amazon and Antarctica. Amazon is a bit of a slog with the blaster. You need to reach the top of the temple and blast your way through 'Elites', which are the second enemy you'll encounter. They do a lot of damage on Commander and fire way more shots. In larger groups, they can end you if you don't play your cards right. This is the blighter right here.



Normally, you could overpower them with even the few basic Mini-Cons you'd have at this early point like the homing missile, as well as an armor boosting Mini-Con (just calling them MC from now on). There's also a powerful blaster MC that normally you need the glider to get, but you can get it early with a jump/transformation trick.

At some parts of this level, you're better off taking them down as you come across them. They are a really interesting enemy and I think they're probably the most complex in the game. There's quite a lot they can do and with the blaster it really feels like you're in a firefight for your life, which I guess you are lol.

They have basic single shots, consecutive shots, and a rapid fire one they only seem to use on Commander mode. They can also run in any direction while shooting at you. They can take cover if it's available, and annoyingly, they have a dodge ability that only triggers if you launch something heavy like the homing missiles, rockets and possibly charged blaster shots (haven't tested or don't remember), where they dive to the side.

They don't always do it though, so I'm not sure how the game generates this response. I'm guessing, given that you'll only be able to fire two missiles before recharge even with a red MC team, it's just a quick way to get you to waste a shot, which can be an issue when fighting a group and that shot would have taken that enemy out. They can also dive to avoid ram attacks in vehicle mode.

One upside to them dodging, is that while doing this, they essentially take themselves out of the fight for a few seconds, and are totally vulnerable while finishing the move and getting up. You can either concentrate blaster fire on them, or fire the same heavy shot.

Finally, and this is something I never knew at first, is that occasionally these guys will just run away. I used to think they were after cover, but what they're actually doing is running to the nearest ally or group, which they can call to help them. While they're running away you can blast the shit out of them though.

This is one of the reasons I take them out in this level, because there are tons of these little groups walking around in the forest. Some you'd never come across if you stuck to the main path.

The boss of this stage is only a Heavy Unit, which while powerful, can be beaten easily by abusing some parts of the environment and taking shots from safe angles.

Antartica is largely easy. You need to cross a large, snowy field filled with crevasses harboring enemies. I just drove through most of it avoiding battle. At the end you have to fight Starscream who is quite possibly the hardest in the game due to his annoying jet form, but ages I found a trick to get him stuck by a building. 100% consistent if you act quickly at the start of the fight.

The third level, Deep Amazon, is going to be awful. I hate this stage even when I can equip anything I want.

More on those bots I mentioned earlier. I was just on Deep Amazon and noticed just how many types of movement they have. There's a temple with super narrow corridors and you encounter a lot of them in there. They constantly run and hide around corners, then they'll either dodge roll out of cover and shoot, strafe out while shooting, or do this side stepping sort of walk while firing. Sometimes they walk forward while firing, and others times they run straight at you.

Later on you'll encounter a red colored version with a shield that deflects a lot of stuff, so their shooting antics are even tougher, and they can also lob grenades.

Stage 3 was a nightmare inside the temple. Cyclonus was easy because there's a trick to staying underneath him (he's a helicopter) and he keeps trying to hover backwards so he can shoot but you just keep walking towards him while shooting.

Stage 4 has 3 parts. The beaches and islands, inside Tidal Wave, and the Tidal Wave boss fight. The fight takes place in the first area.

Getting to TW requires the Glider, so you are forced to use this. There are places later that require it to progress too. You glide from island to island, then out to sea to land on TW (he's an aircraft carrier).

Second part is inside and was the most horrible part yet. Small hallways and tons of tough robots. I had to constantly run away. There's this one part where they can't seem to go so I shot them from this control room. Took ages because they had shields (which can be destroyed but with the blaster, ugh) and then had to continuously lure others back to this point.

Normally, here and in previous stages, I'd use the deflector, which puts up a basic shield that stops energy shots. You can also click it on and off so you can use it sort of like Royal Guard, tapping it on just as a shot is about to connect, then off. This way you can save meter and recharge.

Oh man. It took like 30 mins I'm sure. Now I'm fighting TW who can only be damaged by shooting him in the head. Problem is he's a giant so his head is out of range. Normally you could use the sniper rifle or the MC that increases range in general, however, I've found a higher spot on one of the islands that puts me in blaster range. Problem is, he has 4 missile turrets and 4 machine gun turrets blasting constantly.

There's this part of the island I can hide behind but the missile explosions still hit me. You can destroy his weapons, which drop huge amounts of health when destroyed, but if you destroy all of them he sends out these annoying flying enemies. He sends them if you destroy only some of his weapons too, but I'm not sure how many. I need to figure out if I can use this position to safely attack, and destroy some of his weapons to limit what he can do, without triggering the flyers.

Using the environment has been key in keeping me alive so far. Without it, I'd be destroyed in seconds. Not sure if TW can actually be beaten like this though. If it's absolutely impossible, I'll have to get the range MC and use that just for this fight. It'll still be blaster only.

TIDAL WAVE IS DOWN!!!

The SHIT I had to go through!

After you destroy all his missile launchers and guns, he will continuously send out flyers which have to be dealt with. I found if you destroy them, then quickly glide to another island, the ones he sends out lose track of you. I managed to get back to the highest island without the flyers following me. TW just stands there looking at you and occasionally doing his taunt, all the while I'm shooting him in the face. Took ages to get his life down, but I was totally free to do so.

Ok, now Alaska. A huge level crawling with powerful enemies.

Wow, just beat Alaska. That was pure torture.

You will be gunned down and lose all your health in seconds. The first part has a canyon you can drive down and get shot at most of the way. Managed to get through with quarter of my life, then made a break for the warp point which are also checkpoints.

From there you do some platforming and get up to a crevasse that leads to a large open area absolutely full of tough enemies. I had to constantly lure them to the crevasse and keep backing up until I came out by the entrance with the platforms I came in on. I'd then drop down and shoot them, as they won't jump down. They'll actually hop long all the platforms until they get to these rocks that you can hop down.

The final stretch is the inside of a cave, and a narrow path on the cliff side at the top. More luring enemies back to the tunnel in the cliff where for some reason they have trouble going.

I swear this all took like 3 hours. Next up is the starship. Totally closed spaces full of tough enemies. I have a feeling this is as far as I go.

Ugh

This place is horrible. Super closed in and tons of elites and other tough bots. In the first area, you have to open a door using a control panel. You just tap X beside it. Everything freezes when you do this.

What this allows me to do, is shoot and backpedal to this door, then close it. The enemies can't open it, and after I'm not exactly sure how long, they'll return to their original positions. You can't take them on in here with just the blaster. It's a long and torturous process doing this door thing. I got killed later by something and lost the will to continue, but this weekend will be dedicated to this run.

The rest of the starship is way worse than the part I'm on now. I have no idea how I'm going to succeed.

Edit: So the damn shield elites don't seem to be fooled by the door trick. Going to have to find a workaround.

There's this elevator that comes down when you approach it, and it's got a commander and 4 shield guys. Impossible to take head-on. Here's the commander, to put a face to the prick.



This guy is tough. He doesn't take hit-stun from most things, and has both long and close range attacks. There's a rocket launcher on his shoulder (thankfully not homing) and he can do a few types of sword attack. At a distance, he does this huge leaps toward you with his sword, and also has a few close range strikes.

He can dodge roll too, and occasionally fires a missile after doing so. He can also block and tends to do this after taking a few shots, though I've seen him do it instantly on certain heavy weapons. There is an invisible variant that is pretty much the same enemy just more annoying because you might not see him at first. They switch it off after getting closer but at that point you should be able to see them clearly.

As for the stage, and that elevator part, I'm going to have to painstakingly clear the floor before triggering the elevator, and try to lure them away from it.

I'm noticing a few things I never knew before using the blaster only. First, how flimsy the Autobots really are. I could have used Red Alert as he has the highest defense but still, without MCs he wouldn't last much longer.

Also noticed the medium units (I called them elites before) actually use their dodge on regular blaster fire. I even saw one do it twice in a row. Still no idea what triggers it. I know it's very consistent with incoming missiles/rockets, but I've never seen them do it from regular fire, but then I wouldn't normally be focusing blaster fire on them when I have various MCs at my disposal.

This is still happening but I cant focus on it until weekends. This stage is requiring me to go up an elevator to a part with rooms separated by large doors. I need to clear out each room before opening the next. I cant take any of the enemies head on so I'm going up and down this elevator constantly because they'll go back to their positions when I'm not around.

The elevator is little cut-scene that is super slow and can't be skipped. It's HORRIBLE.

The next boss is Starscream, stronger than before and no exploit like the first encounter. I know I'm done.

Still stuck at this point. It's doable but the stage and elevator nonsense takes so long.

I thought you were made of sterner stuff?

Totally forgot about this run. The part I'm at is just torture. Not sure when I'll continue.

So yeah I never continued past this point. I actually forgot about it.

This is one of those games where NUR is fine on some parts and you have fun and learn a few new things after years of thinking you knew everything, but then there are parts like this where you really see how it just wasn't designed for this nonsense and every second is miserable.

I'm not saying this segment is impossible but I have no idea when I'm going to attempt it again. This game has been on my mind again recently and I'm getting an urge to play it and make a guide of all the MC abilities.

IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!

So I had an urge to play this today and decided to start documenting some stuff. There's a lot of variety in the MCs and the effects they have on enemies.

I just found out something I never knew was possible. I was testing how each weapon affects the most basic enemy, the 'light unit' which go down easily to pretty much ANY weapon.

I was using Watchdog, which fires sticky bombs. They're spiky and will stick to any part of an enemy's body. You can shoot them to detonate, and some enemies have extreme reactions like running around in a panicked state.

What I found today was, if you stick one to the end of the enemy's weapon, when they fire they'll detonate it and blow themselves away. Years of playing and I never knew this. I didn't even think of this and I barely used this weapon because I don't really like this type.

The weird thing is, if you shoot a mine, they can't shoot it out of the air, or ones you've placed in the ground. Their shots have no effect. It's only this one case when you attach it to their weapon that they can affect it.

Now I need to test this and other weapons on every enemy and boss. I love finding something new in an old game. This one is 14 years old now and has been one of my most replayed games.

Oh this is the Atari published Transformers game. I remember playing this years back at a relative's and it was really fun!

Only thing that turned me off was the Transformers' aesthetics, since it followed the Armada anime (G1/Beast Wars kid 4-eva!).

I'll definitely check this game out again some day.

Gabriel Phelan Lucas wrote:I thought you were made of sterner stuff?

My urge to throw a Hot Rod figure out the window is rising!

Starscream 2 cannot be defeated with only the normal blaster. Run OVER.

Megatron can, but ONLY due to an exploit. Starscream 1 and TW were only possible due to exploits too.

Not making any more exceptions to rules in order to continue this run. The limit has been reached.

I'd say just skip the fight, or use another method. Or is it the final boss? I tend to just do them anyway with other methods like use the weakest alternative, to at least add a challenge.

>skip
>another method
I'm thinking of outright skipping, because Starscream 2 is so strong that you need the best stuff to fight him anyway. I could possibly use a slightly weaker offensive weapon, but some kind of shield is a requirement. There's no cover and when he goes into jet form, you're done without a shield or something heavy to shoot him down.

Problem is the amount of damage he can do, and shields can't be kept up continuously. You need strong weapons otherwise he'll wear you down. I could try using the shields and keeping the basic blaster and see who dies first, then go up the weapon list from there.

>final boss
No, that's Megatron, and there is an exploit to make him transform into his tank form which is easier to deal with. I've gotten him stuck on one of the ramps before but not sure how. He's far more possible than Starscream 2, though this is only due to the design of the arena you fight him in.

No idea how Megatron's stage would go. You all the most powerful enemies in the game at every turn, though it might be possible to run by them as it's another outdoor, open stage.

Been playing PS2 games on weekends as a break from FF12 Zodiac Age.

Found some all new strategies for Starscream 2 using Claymore (proximity mines). When fired, Starscream will start blocking. He blocks for 3 seconds, then he ignores the bomb. But simply firing another will force him to block again. Meanwhile, I'm charging Firefight (charge up blaster) and releasing just as he unblocks.

When he transforms I use Kickback (shield that blocks everything) to negate his airstrike.